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No Matter Who Wins
Modern elections—despite their social and political importance—have become more like sporting events than referendums around ideas. We so intensely identify with our partisan tribe, that we focus on the slogans, the rooting against the ‘other guy’ and other us-vs-them dynamics, and often lose sight of the issues, the context, and how ‘winning’ for our country (and world) might actually be influenced by our choices.
We are inherently tribal, after all. Of all of our inherited ancestral heuristics, defending our (historically small) tribe and ostracizing/rooting against the other tribe is one of the strongest human universals. In fact, perhaps humans’ best quality – cooperation and collaboration – was a byproduct of the strong unity born out of common threats, accessing surplus, and tribal warfare. We cooperate – for the good of our group – and for tens/hundreds of thousands of years, this meant survival.
Fast forward to November 2020, USA and the four year inflection point where half the country is rooting for Joe Biden and the other half (roughly) for Donald Trump – in our minds we know this is an important guidepost for our collective future, but we approach this week with similar temperament and behavior as a Packer/Viking pre-game tailgate.
We are now in the liminal space between our nation’s long history and future. Facts and expertise matter less by the day. Emotions and tribal affiliations focus our attention on the ‘cars’ instead of looking at the road ahead of us. Later this week 50% of our population will be elated and the other 50% will be angry. And most of both camps will be variously: righteous, anxious and uncertain, and perhaps violent. This, along with the various trivia of Democrat and Republican victories and defeats will be the hyper-focus of our media. But below, in no particular order, is a look at some of the critical guideposts in the next 4 years along the winding road of our collective future that – as colleagues, citizens and neighbors in the United States of America, we’ll have to navigate with each other – no matter who wins the election.
COVID 19- Spilling into 2021
As I wrote in March, the ‘cure’ (lockdowns) for COVID would be worse than the disease in aggregate impact. Though death rates were perhaps overblown, the virulence -and ‘long COVID complications’ were not. Various vaccines and treatments and protocols will be developed but the worst months may still be ahead of us. This virus may or may not ultimately have a cure, but either way COVID has permanently damaged the vascular system of the human superorganism, explained below. No matter who wins the election, the Coronavirus will still be with us.
V vs K
Economies tanked in the 2nd quarter and – on the backs of stimulus and central bank support – roared back in Q3. Through July 31, 2020 -when direct stimulus ran out – the US government was responsible for fully 25% of our national wages. While the professional class (and tech companies) are experiencing a sharp V recovery, many hourly workers, small businesses, retail, leisure, transportation, restaurants are seriously struggling. Many people are hanging on via donations and loans from friends and family and ‘food insecurity’ is becoming widespread. The conventional thinking is that in either a Democratic or Republican ‘sweep’, considerably more stimulus (aka borrowing from future to consume today) will arrive. If, there is e.g. a Biden win and the Senate stays Republican, continued government stabilization of the economic patient will be in jeopardy, and many systemic risks ensue.
But headline GDP statistics aside, the pandemic has widened already large disparities between the haves and have nots. The COVID recession is the most unequal one in US history. As we recover – or don’t – distribution of resources within our population is going to be a critical issue – (more on this below). At some point if the have nots have nothing, they may be forced to take from the haves – or do without. No matter who wins the election we are going to have to find ways to support the weak, the vulnerable and the unemployed. And I expect these will number in the 10s of millions.
Ideology, Memes and Icebergs
If you haven’t been asleep, traveling or drugged these past few years, you are aware there is a growing movement pointing out the racial, social and economic injustices of our current system. This is in large part because there are considerable racial, social and economic injustices in our current system. But fairness was never the objective built into our cultural goals or institutions – we optimize for (economic) efficiency, not fairness, nor resilience. The situation is this: various demographics now quite vocally (and reasonably) want a larger share of the economic pie, but the pie itself is about to shrink, which is something few are aware of – and don’t like to hear/think about.
Let’s unpack this using an overused analogy – the Titanic. On the Titanic were 3 classes of passengers – First Class, Second Class and Steerage (or 3rd Class). You can imagine the conversations, hopes, dreams and concerns of the various people on that ship over a century ago. And, history tells us that the tragedy did not befall each class equally – 39% of 1st class passengers perished, 58% of 2nd class and 76% of steerage passengers drowned. The same demographics exist today and are probably having similar conversations within and between groups, focused on maintaining status, moving up in class, or demanding better conditions.
And then there is someone like me – shouting (to all 3 classes) that we just hit an iceberg and need to use science, discourse, reason and planning to find the best solution to navigating what’s ahead. You can imagine the reaction – indeed you see it in the news and in your town hall meetings. The ‘first class passengers’ publicly decry that there is no iceberg that technology would never allow the ship to hit an iceberg let alone sink (but privately they are looking to ‘lifeboats’ aka gated communities and the like). The second class passengers are scrambling like mad to ingratiate themselves to the first class passengers to get crumbs of surplus lest they slip into steerage. And the steerage passengers – a full 50%+ of American society today have 2 common responses: 1) “Ok sure there may be an iceberg, but we need to solve our more immediate concerns like our current unacceptable living/working conditions, because we’ll drown from those before any freaking iceberg” (they are mostly right) or 2) “Ya right, an iceberg -that is just another story by elites and governments telling us what we have to do and taking away our rights and freedoms”. The difference now (vs on the actual Titanic) is that the steerage class (economically) houses both the far left and the far right, effectively creating an additional ‘iceberg’ within the ship. The people in ‘steerage’ can’t really conceive that in addition to their current troubles, society ALSO has hit an iceberg (see below).
The point here is that the narratives (and religions) that make people feel good are often not based on reality. Which makes discussing, planning and responding to ‘the iceberg of the 2020s’ a very difficult task. The key will be to acknowledge the moral failings of our economic and cultural past while simultaneously acknowledging and planning the lifeboat situation. That’s a difficult thing for a human mind to do.
No matter who wins the election we will be faced with multiple non-overlapping memes and explanations for the upheaval that is coming. Our plight is biophysical (biology and physics) in nature but will be blamed on class, race, politics, and ideology. Navigating this is going to be exceedingly difficult. A new captain can change the morale and surround himself by great minds to make the best civic decisions, but he/she cannot change the fact that our economy and culture has hit an iceberg.
The Zombies are Coming
The central bank purchases and guarantees of various offerings of debt has turned the financial system into a digital Rube Goldberg machine. One of the externalities is that -while economy was suffering from an exogenous shock from COVID – companies used the FED guarantee to raise cheap debt. For instance, Boeing – a company who arguably will come out of the COVID crisis with worse business prospects due to less demand for planes – nearly doubled its long term debt because it could do so at low rates (the bonds being guaranteed by the FED). This means Boeing – and many other companies – will emerge from this crisis with both lower revenues and higher debt, putting them at risk of becoming ‘zombies’. Zombie companies are those whose profits are not enough to pay their interest payments – and they need to take on even more debt (or get direct aid from governments) to stay solvent.
Yes – it’s true stock markets are near all time highs. But this too is a distribution (and expectation) problem. Going into Q3 earnings, the five largest S&P 500 stocks (AAPL, MSFT, AMZN, GOOGL, FB) were expected to grow 3Q sales and EPS by +13% and +1% while the other 495 stocks in SP500 are expected to have a -5% revenue drop and a -24% drop in EPS.
Some great companies. Lots of zombies. No matter who wins this election, we (and the rest of developed world) are going to face a large and growing number of bankrupt and insolvent companies. Stimulus will help – and is critically necessary – but isn’t a long-term solution. And, as the government takes on more and more of this burden, it too risks zombification.
A Cul-de-Sac – and Full of Cans
At year end 2019 we were still recovering from the Great Recession in 2008 -the ‘temporary’ measures initiated in 2008 – artificially low interest rates, too big to fail guarantees, Quantitative Easing, explosion of government debt, expansion of central bank balance sheets, etc were still in effect a dozen years later. Even with all this, productivity gains have been tiny – and a fraction of earlier decades.
Now, in addition to all this, governments are adding fiscal stimulus – because they must. The little green man behind the curtain – (currently Jerome Powell) is a very capable and good person but he is not superman. The institution he oversees -the Federal Reserve is using an invisible giant magic wand to move what we might’ve consumed in 2030 or 2040 forward to 2020 (in the process leaving less available in 2030 and 2040). Modern Monetary Theory tells us deficits don’t matter – but they do – when we create money, we do not create the energy and materials needed to pay it back, so adding more and more debt becomes less productive over time – and has limits.
What happens when either government decides to stop stimulus (hard to imagine) or the bond market says ‘no mas’ via higher rates? What is the plan by either the Left or the Right (or anyone) for when QE and stimulus combined cannot plug the economic hole for people and businesses? My opinion is that question will be answered in the next administration – and the answer will be a drop in GDP akin to the 1930s. Yes, more debt and creative stimulus/infrastructure spending will forestall this – for a while but we will soon face a situation when we can no longer kick the can of growing GDP again to the future. Money isn’t reality – it’s a marker for the things that matter: built, social, natural and human capital. No matter who wins the election we have a decades old physical/financial bill that’s coming due.
Complexity
Increasingly I think it’s not oil nor finance, nor social disruption that is our core risk but declining returns to complexity. Historian Joseph Tainter famously studied how ancient civilizations collapsed due to the inability of resources/productivity to keep pace with complexity. In today’s world, this can be seen in myriad ways, from the unemployment software in US States being written in COBOL and FORTRAN, to APIs for majority of our medicines made in India and China.
It’s not something we think about, but we all are part of a complex global supply chain. On the way up, using the concept of ‘comparative advantage’ we outsourced various manufacturing to their lowest cost production – which in many cases meant locations in Asia with cheap labor. COVID allowed us to see the soft-underbelly of those decades old decisions as we have endangered our own security: almost 200 drugs currently listed as in short supply by FDA, 6 month wait for bicycles, heavy equipment delays etc. This is a separate issue from ammunition, canned goods, toilet paper etc having short term kinks in the supply chain – this issue goes to the embedded brittleness of a global system based on growth to further rely on import substitution models of production.
No matter who wins the election, with the geopolitical context that is COVID 19 on financial steroids, making sure that important things are made domestically (or regionally) may become an important question.
(Charts from Labyrinth Consulting. Assumptions: EIA & Enverus data through August 2020. Sept and Oct guided by EIA tight oil estimates plus Labyrinth estimates for OCS & conventional. Nov 2020 thru Nov 2021 calibrated speculation using to-date tight oil rig count and production correlation extrapolating 2020 ratio average for deep water & conventional production.)
If you took a poll and asked people what the single biggest casualty was from the pandemic, very few people would respond with ‘oil’. But no matter who wins the election, US oil production, including shale oil, is about to fall off a cliff, with massive consequences for society. For the setup of our modern way of life, oil is effectively our hemoglobin – and the COVID arrow hit at the heart of the industry as market prices are far below what it costs to extract oil from the ground. Yet this is all invisible to most people as the media (and economics departments) still conflate price with cost and cost with value. We were in bad shape BEFORE Covid-19 and now the Red Queen (drilling faster and faster just to maintain static production) has stepped off the treadmill for 6+months – meaning the large underlying decline rates of existing fields are not being offset much by new drilling. Worse, most of the recent decline in production is because wells have been shut in. Many of these will never be brought back on line because they cannot meet basic operating expenses and production taxes at current oil prices. In aggregate, US production is so far down -2.28 mmbpd from a 2019 monthly average high of of 12.86 mmbpd. Assuming rig counts and prices stay roughly where they are (and with no stimulus they may get worse), this implies a level of about 7 mmbpd by late summer 2021 – nearly a 50% drop. Globally, the reduction in travel, leisure and transport due to COVID effectively squeezed upstream investment- we are down to 72.8 mb of crude and condensate from 84.6 in November 2018, -which date is highly likely to be the all time peak in global production. Note: this will likely never be recognized as such because there will always be a non-biophysical reason articulated as to why we aren’t getting more oil. E.g. ‘the chinese’ or ‘the environmentalists’ or ‘the war’.)
To label this geologic phenomenon as ‘peak demand for oil’ is the economic equivalent of saying the reindeer on St Matthew Island faced ‘peak demand for lichen’. Oil is the lifeblood of our (current) economy -peak demand for oil also likely means peak growth for economies (unless massive efficiencies and fuel switching occur very fast). We probably won’t notice any lack of oil for many years because affordability by citizens will likely decline faster than oil itself (unless massive stimulus and central bank bazookas arrive). Regardless an accelerated retiring of the fossil armies that do most of our work, and create and deliver our modern smorgasbord of goods and services is now on the horizon.
Note: I think the graph from my friend Art may be a bit pessimistic, but maybe not. We face a biophysical gauntlet where the price citizens can afford is getting lower and lower and the price energy companies need is higher and higher. If governments guarantee high prices to oil companies, or there are other incentives, production might be higher than indicated here – but here is a glaring statistic – if we were to stop drilling in USA entirely we would lose around 40% of our entire oil production in 1 year – we have to keep investing/drilling in more difficult and costly spots to avoid such a decline. (the 1 year decline rates are: Texas 40%, ND is 52%, Oklahoma 50%, GOM/deepwater 32% New Mexico 45% – these 5 regions are 80% of US production).
This is not remotely being discussed in our culture.
No matter who wins the election, US oil production has peaked – again -and this time including the tight oil provinces – from the ‘source rock’. This will have….large long term consequences, whether one is left, right or libertarian.
Other Energy
Humans – during periods of growth – and contraction – self-organize around energy. Oil is central but our entire energy balance sheet is going to be a critical issue in the coming decade. Under a Biden win, various Green New Deal schemes will massively scale renewable energy. In many ways this is good news, because it will be good for GDP, it will create jobs, and grow our supply of low carbon energy. But there are many problems with this because it won’t be approached systemically. Briefly: 1) renewable energy isn’t renewable, it’s rebuildable, 2) only 20% of (current) energy mix is electricity which is the type of energy produced from most renewables 3) the higher % of RE in our mix the more important back up (NG and coal) become – and the US is facing an impending gas shortage as US drilling has plummeted. (the largest growth component of supply was the associated gas from tight oil production), 4) the full system cost of integrating RE into the grid is higher than consumers currently pay, weighing on the economy 5) all RE plans expect a LARGER economy in the future when (see above) most realistic scenarios using systemic inputs point to a smaller economy.
Still, renewables are our only hope – they are mature, robust and inexpensive vis-à-vis even a decade ago. The problem will be how to ‘add renewables to a smaller and more complex system’. No matter who wins the election, we will have to face a more complex and less certain energy future.
Meaning and Well-being
One of the silver linings (if you will) of the pandemic is that now a great number of people personally are aware US GDP/ 330 million does not represent how well we are doing as individuals or as a nation. The constant media reminders that the SP500 and Dow Jones just made all-time highs is incongruous with most peoples real lived experience (and most of whom have zero money in the stock market). Whether one understands or agrees with the risks of climate change, energy depletion or limits to growth, tens of millions of people are now hungry for living a decent life with access to basic needs, while doing something good. The coming decades – by definition but also by desire – are going to be more about well-being than they are about growing our consumption of stuff.
No matter who wins the election, our nation needs to embark on a deep conversation about what our cultural goal is – we are going to need complementary metrics to the econometric measures quantifying how much energy we burned. What is all this energy for is a question that should be part of our national discourse.
Protecting Heaven
Lost in the discussions of Republicans vs Democrats, stimulus, PPP, COVID statistics, stock market gyrations and geopolitics is perhaps the most important story of all – the state of Earth’s ecosystems and the ~10 million species we share the planet with. They are ‘downstream’ of our elections and financial/economic systems, but none of them have a vote.
I have concluded that natural systems and species futures – for better or worse – are linked to human futures – we have to ‘bend not break’ to have the best outcome for (most) Earth Systems (other than perhaps oceans and very remote species). I believe humans are not any better or worse than we were 100 years, 1000 years or 100,000 years ago – there are just more of us so our impact is (much) larger and each and every one of us consuming much more resources than our ancestors did. Humans are good at heart but we are biological organisms following cultural goals that have expiry dates. We have arrived at a ‘species level’ juncture and need to use systems science, reason, discourse, and leadership to navigate a glide path to intact futures.
No matter who wins the election, the state of the natural world needs to be included in our plans and discussions. Unfortunately, it first needs to be included in our values.
Joy, Living, and Goals
The Great Depression, unless you lived in a big city, mostly happened in slow motion. Similarly, unless we’re very unlucky, the events of the coming decade will unfold gradually. We have to take it upon ourselves to civically engage, but also find time to enjoy and appreciate our lives – being alive at this amazing and perilous time.
We all have ‘conditional’ goals, those which rely on something external to us to change in order to succeed. Many of those goals will not get met because external conditions prevent them – perhaps the ‘guy who we didn’t vote for’ winning the election. The key is to also find “unconditional” goals – those which we ourselves can be 100% responsible for. That way we can feel more empowered to reach those goals, which many times can influence the conditional goals in positive ways. Growing food, spending time with your neighbors, learning a new (useful to the future) skill, mutual aid, etc. The key for all of us – is to meet the future halfway.
No matter who wins the election, life, and the opportunity for joy, impact, and meaning will exist, perhaps even more so.
The 2020 Election and beyond
So, dear reader and fellow countrymen/women, go vote. But voting is merely the beginning of our civic duty. Our country will be shaped by how we citizens respond to the challenges ahead of us as much (or more) than it will by which party wins the election. What am I rooting for? Rationality, science, civility, discourse, which opens up other potential pathways. Our culture is capable of much more than guns germs and steel or being an energy dissipating superorganism.
People who practice common decency and respect are by far the majority in our (and other) countries. When matched with perseverance, common goals and prioritizing social capital and relationships, we might just happen upon the glide path to decent futures. There are 10s of millions of Americans craving having their basic needs met and just doing some good with their lives – they just don’t yet have a roadmap and convening place. Could such a thing be the emergent result of the 2020 election?
Society right now is dancing – and fighting on the roof of an A-frame with the winds blowing hard and a storm shooting lightning at our heads. We need to keep dancing (less fighting) while we climb down to more stable ground.
No matter who wins the election this week we are on the cusp of major change which will require both top-down and bottom up interventions and cultural emergence. I hope you can play a role.
180 Comments on "No Matter Who Wins"
Abraham van Helsing on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 8:37 am
Written a few days before the election, by a left-leaning novelist:
“Richard Ford: America could fail. I have never felt this way before”
https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/richard-ford-america-could-fail-i-have-never-felt-this-way-before-1.4388465
“AMERICA AT THE CROSSROADS: US EXCEPTIONALISM IS A MYTH, BUT UNFORTUNATELY AUTHORITARIANISM IS VERY REAL”
In the US, as you may know, we will soon be voting to determine who will be our next president. And we will also be voting to find out what kind of country America is now and will be, and what kind of people we are. If this sounds like an uneasy, precarious, possibly momentous and actually quite pathetic state of affairs, that’s because it is. That a great nation should have so much riding on a single, well-scheduled, legally prescribed civic exercise is alarming… At this perplexing and virtual distance, America feels more like just any other country – any other that could fail. Even in the worst of Vietnam, or in the aftermath of 9/11, I didn’t feel this way.
Abraham van Helsing on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 8:43 am
More leftist-leaning globalist, NYC-based, Irish realism, written shortly before the election:
https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/this-could-be-belfast-in-1968-how-political-conflict-in-the-us-could-descend-into-violence-1.4388497
“‘This could be Belfast in 1968’: How political conflict in the US could descend into violence”
As I write this at my desk in New York City shortly before election day, it is impossible to shake the sense of dread. The polls show a substantial lead for Democratic Party candidate Joseph Biden. But no poll can allay the fear so many of us feel at the prospect of another four years in Trump’s America.
The United States is at a crossroads. On November 3rd we will head down path A: a Biden win and a return to the ordinary disappointments of political life; or path B: a second hair-thin Trump victory eked out via the electoral college and continued complicity in an ugly regime of authoritarian cruelty at home and abroad.
Stephanie McCurry: What I fear most is the political conflict could easily descend into violence . . . This could be Belfast in 1968 – or South Carolina circa 1868-1876.
To say it has been worse than we expected is a colossal understatement. At the very beginning, in January 2017, when more than four million Americans took to the streets in the Women’s March, we protested the indignity of being led by a serial sexual predator, an openly anti-black racist and anti-immigrant president, and we feared the legislative actions of a Republican Party long committed to enriching the rich and empowering the powerful.
What we did not foresee is how Donald Trump would openly embrace white supremacists as his brand – or how he would transform the Republican Party into a cult of personality, erode customary norms about the use of executive powers, and brazenly wield those powers to malign ends.
Davy on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 8:45 am
“Maybe this rain will flush Mar-a-lago out to sea! Gawd only hope!!”
Yeap Donald Jr Trump. Over half of Americans agrees!
Gotta love democracy!
REAL Green on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 8:50 am
We hate democracy. Cept for when we don’t lose.
Davy on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 8:53 am
juanPpee voted for Trump. That makes him are freind.
zero juan on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 9:07 am
LMFAO, the stalking troll is triggered
Davy said juanPpee voted for Trump. That makes him are frein…
REAL Green said We hate democracy. Cept for when we don’t lose.
Davy said “Maybe this rain will flush Mar-a-lago out to sea!…
Mick on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 9:08 am
Looks like zero juan flushed a covey! JuanP came out of hiding becuase he is just a rodent
Duncan Idaho on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 9:14 am
“don’t even think about it, Teenythumbs”
“If Trump’s going to be dragged out kicking and screaming, who do we send in to do the honors? In all cases assume several large law enforcement / Secret Service agents are there to convey the “don’t even think about it, Teenythumbs” message.”
Mick on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 9:19 am
Come on dumbcan, the dirty Dimocrates are cheaters and liars. They have destroyed the integrity of the lection process not to mention are guilty of high crimes. I don’t care if Trump has to conceded at least he can do the research and lawsuits to expose just how disgusting your people are. Dumbcan as far as the Dimocrates are concerned you have to be at the bottom of the pond. You are definitely one who lives in the mud and eats feces. Please leave the country like you promised. We want you gone.
Duncan Idaho on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 9:20 am
Joe Biden’s Popular Vote Lead Grows to More Than 4 Million
https://www.motherjones.com/2020-elections/2020/11/joe-bidens-popular-vote-lead-grows-to-more-than-4-million/
Davy on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 9:21 am
Trump should be removed with lethal force.
REAL Green on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 9:25 am
“Trump should be removed with lethal force.”
So true widdle. So true.
Duncan Idaho on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 9:36 am
Unfortunately, those of us who vote vote in the places where most humans live are pretty much irrelevant to presidential politics.
Abraham van Helsing on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 9:43 am
“Joe Biden’s Popular Vote Lead Grows to More Than 4 Million”
Donkey Idahohoho doesn’t understand the US electoral system.
“Trump should be removed with lethal force.”
Give it a try, son, give it a try. Anything that escalates the situation.
Abraham van Helsing on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 9:49 am
More democrats vote fraud uncovered, via software program “Dominion” in Michigan. 6000 votes should be moved from Biden to Trump. Only the tip of the ice-berg:
http://www.pi-news.net/2020/11/systematischer-wahlbetrug-durch-auszaehlungssoftware-dominion/
“Systematic election fraud through “Dominion” counting software?”
FamousDrScanlon on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 10:20 am
There goes European clog again getting all emotional & taking the US election personal.
What’s your connection to the US clog?
Is the US your next door neighbour? They’re mine.
Do you have a couple dozen cousins in the US? A few you regularly visited on summer holidays & such? I do & have.
Have you been married to an American, lived, worked, ran a business, paid taxes, gone to church (Unitarian), done volunteer work in America? I have.
Have you even been a tourist?
If not, then where do you get your expertise on all things American?
The TV? The internet?
Indeed you share some traits with a great many Americans, like thinking you can expertly understand other cultures without actually living in them for a significant length of time, like the 9 years I lived in the US – immersed in their culture.
Abraham van Helsing on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 10:28 am
“What’s your connection to the US clog?”
We’re forced members of the US empire, and we smell our chance to escape and reverse roles. And get some scores settled. And take most of North-America over from your tribe:
https://documents1940.wordpress.com/2020/11/03/north-america-after-cw2/
Don’t ask for the known way.
FamousDrScanlon on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 10:28 am
In 30 States, A Computer System Known To Be Defective Is Tallying Votes
Update (1100ET): Further down the ‘Domminion Voting System’ rabbit-hole, Politico reports that a technology glitch that halted voting in two Georgia counties on Tuesday morning was caused by a vendor uploading an update to their election machines the night before, a county election supervisor said. Voters were unable to cast machine ballots for a couple of hours in Morgan and Spalding counties after the electronic devices crashed, state officials said. In response to the delays, Superior Court Judge W. Fletcher Sams extended voting until 11 p.m. The counties use voting machines made by Dominion Voting Systems and electronic poll books — used to sign in voters — made by KnowInk. Neither Dominion nor KnowInk responded to a request to comment. A spokesperson for the secretary of state’s office also did not respond to follow-up questions about who uploaded the dataset and whether it had been reviewed and tested by anyone beforehand. Update (1045ET): Probably nothing… 2014 $2.25M joint project with the Clinton Foundation— Tommy Scott (@tommy997) November 7, 2020 As American Thinker’s Andrea Widburg detailed earlier, when Kyle Becker heard about the “glitchy” computer program in Antrim County, Michigan, the one that tried to give 6,000 Trump votes to Biden, he starting doing research into the system. He ended up finding an amazing amount of highly disturbing information. The Dominion system has been known for some time to be defective, yet 28 states use it. This post is a compilation of Becker’s information, both in his own tweets and in one other person’s tweet, about what’s going on with that system: MASSIVE. “Ballots were counted for Democrats that were meant for Republicans… tabulating software ‘glitched’… We have now discovered that 47 counties used this same software.” MI GOP Chair reveals corrupt software flipped thousands of votes from Trump to Biden. Watch! Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) November 6, 2020 This next tweet is censored because, even though Becker states only facts, Twitter wants you to know the facts don’t matter. Be sure to click through to read his tweet. Twitter is evil, but it effectively owns the public square: The election software system in Michigan that switched 6,000 votes from Trump to Biden is called “Dominion.” It is used in 30 states including: Nevada Arizona Minnesota Michigan Wisconsin Georgia Pennsylvania Every single major swing state. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. pic.— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) November 7, 2020 Just pause for a moment and consider that a widespread election software system that was used in virtually every swing state in the 2020 election is called “Dominion.” “DOMINION.” If that doesn’t send *chills* up your spine, nothing will. pic.twitter.com/oFmJTr9zMo — Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) November 7, 2020 Look up who might be connected to this software. Her last name rhymes with Duh-low-see. — The FOO (@PolitiBunny) November 7, 2020 How does an election software company literally named “Dominion” get used in: Almost 30 states 4 of the Top 10 Counties 9 of the Top 20 Counties Dominion is used in MI where votes were switched from Trump to Biden. A free country does not give one company this much power. — Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) November 7, 2020 NBC raised the alarms on Dominion Voting Systems in early 2000. It is the voting system used in 30 states, every majority swing state, and many of the biggest counties. Dominion was used in Michigan where Trump votes switched to Biden. Unbelievable. — Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) November 7, 2020 DOMINION. VOTING. SYSTEMS.— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) November 7, 2020 In Texas, Dominion Voting Systems was turned down THREE TIMES for certification in state elections. It listed numerous reasons why the system had major security issues. Dominion is now linked to voting irregularities in both MI & GA. TEXAS KNEW — Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) November 7, 2020 “Securing our elections should not be a partisan issue.” Early in 2020, Dems held a hearing with 3 major private election vendors, including DOMINION VOTING SYSTEMS. The Dem. Chair revealed voting components from China, widespread Internet & hacking vulnerability & WORSe — Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) November 7, 2020 I generally recommend Becker’s Twitter feed. He has some interesting observations about the weird anomalies in the election. Here are just two examples: Swing state voting irregularities: Biden outperforms Senators in swing states, underperforms in VA, NH, RI Biden underperforms Hillary/Obama in cities, except in MI, PA, GA, WI Biden mail-in dumps with 100% margins GOP lose ZERO House races Something is definitely off. — Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) November 6, 2020 The 2020 election errors are all going in one direction. This is the exact opposite of “random.” If they were just anomalies in various races nationwide that were going some Trump’s way and some Biden’s way, there would be FAR fewer questions. — Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) November 7, 2020 What I find most disturbing is the impunity with which Democrats are gaming the system. They’re not even trying to cover their tracks. They are 100% certain that there will be no consequences for their actions. They know that the media, which should be a watchdog on behalf of American citizens, is actually an arm of the Democrat party that will do everything necessary to cover for Democrat election crimes.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/30-states-computer-system-known-be-defective-tallying-votes
Duncan Idaho on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 10:39 am
IT’S OFFICIAL: BIDEN WINS WHITE HOUSE — TRUMP TROUNCED
Now, getting the Fat Boy out will be interesting—-
Scum is often hard to remove.
zero juan on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 10:40 am
widdle Ppee, Davy and REAL Green don’t come here anymore. Too much insanity. Everyone knows it is you, lunatic.
REAL Green said “Trump should be removed with lethal force.” So tr…
Davy said Trump should be removed with lethal force.
Duncan Idaho on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 10:43 am
Con man to the end: Most of Trump’s ‘official election defense fund’ to be used for his debts
https://www.alternet.org/2020/11/trump-debt/
Now, will the Dims have the balls to put this clown in a cell with a few pissed off “prisoners”?
Duncan Idaho on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 10:46 am
Biden Has Ousted a Lying and Corrupt Trump—But That Doesn’t Mean Democrats Had a Great Election Day
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/11/07/biden-has-ousted-lying-and-corrupt-trump-doesnt-mean-democrats-had-great-election
Duncan Idaho on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 10:50 am
“The very fact that someone could be considered a serious candidate after just having killed tens if not hundreds of thousands of Americans through a disastrous response to COVID-19 is an extraordinary victory for Trump — and a defeat for the country, for the world and for hopes for a decent future.”
-Noam Chomsky
Duncan Idaho on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 10:53 am
“Trump still has two months to wield the wrecking ball that has already diminished the United States, harmed the world and severely threatened the future. His penchant for wrecking everything he did not create, whatever the cost, is hard to miss. He might decide to go for broke.”
-Noam Chomsky
Abraham van Helsing on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 10:56 am
The oligarch media declare Biden winner:
https://edition.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-biden-election-results-11-07-20/index.html
As if the media have anything to say about this!
More oil on the fire and paving the way of no return.
Cloggie Nonsense on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 11:02 am
How hilarious watching Abraham, formerly known as Cloggie, flail about with silly conspiracy nonsense w/o a shred of proof. Funny thing is the largest case of voter fraud (substantiated) in decades was in 2018 when Republicons got caught stuffing ballot boxes in North Carolina. Bipartisan election judges voted unanimously to throw out the fake results.
Simple Simon Says on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 11:06 am
Cloggie: Morally corrupt and intellectually bankrupt.
Simple Simon Says on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 11:10 am
Cloggie says:
“The oligarch media declare Biden winner: As if the media have anything to say about this!”
You’re right. The people have spoken, clown.
That’s how a functioning democracy works, dummy.
Abraham van Helsing on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 11:12 am
Giuliani live, not backing down:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qg1O7y2Ozk
Abraham van Helsing on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 11:13 am
When will the first Red State secede?
Duncan Idaho on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 11:16 am
It’s time to start practicing these words. “Madam Vice President”
Abraham van Helsing on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 11:22 am
Giuliani: 600,000 votes dubious. Probably tampered with. Inspectors were systematically not allowed to check. Ballots of dead people were used. The Reps are going to push a court case. Giuliani: Philadelphia (60 years Dems) is the central town of fraud. Giuliani: networks don’t decide elections. We have a strong court case.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qg1O7y2Ozk
The Board on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 11:32 am
REAL Green is one of Davy’s sock puppets zero juan, and so are you.
lunatic
Duncan Idaho on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 11:35 am
Joe Biden Had To Beat the Fat Boy With One Hand Tied Behind His Back
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/joe-biden-2020-election-obstacles_n_5fa5ab5ec5b623bfac4f43fc
(To pull off a historic election victory, Biden had to overcome an increasingly anti-democratic process.)
Abraham van Helsing on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 11:36 am
Trump officially rejects Biden elect. “Case far from over.”
Constitutional crisis a fact.
Davy on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 11:51 am
Trump can still do tons more damage between now and January cloggo.
Duncan Idaho on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 11:54 am
Adam Schiff?
What happens to Kamala Harris’ Senate seat now that she’s vice president-elect?
https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Kamala-Harris-Senate-seat-vacant-Newsom-appoint-21-15691223.php
Abraham van Helsing on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 11:56 am
Giuliani has at least 50 witnesses, willing to testify in court about vote fraud:
https://www.infowars.com/posts/live-from-arizona-alex-jones-fellow-patriots-gather-to-stop-the-steal/
What a wedge white nationalists, closet of otherwise, now have at their disposal to split up a country that should have ceased to exist decades ago.
Abraham van Helsing on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 12:00 pm
“Trump can still do tons more damage between now and January cloggo.”
Posting from ultra-white, safe Italy, I presume?
Antius on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 12:20 pm
“When will the first Red State secede?”
Hopefully Trump will remain active on the public scene. A spiritual leader, if you will. Leading Americans to freedom against the evil Jewish oppressors.
zero juan on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 12:27 pm
Widdle juanPpee is losing control of the board as news gets exciting. Nobody cares about his muzzie crap and his insanity. Hey Ppee, I hope you get washed into the bay and a shark eats your stinking ass!
Davy said Trump can still do tons more damage between now an…
The Board said REAL Green is one of Davy’s sock puppets zero juan…
Simple Simon Says said Cloggie says: “The oligarch media declare Bi…
Simple Simon Says said Cloggie: Morally corrupt and intellectually bankru…
Cloggie Nonsense said How hilarious watching Abraham, formerly known as…
FamousDrScanlon on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 12:42 pm
Market Friday: Civil War It is Then
It is one thing to know your opponents have no soul. It is quite another to watch in real time their depravity play out with gleeful disdain. Anyone saying that what is happening right now in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan etc. is not a conscious effort to rig an election is either a victim of propaganda or being willfully obtuse. Because they told us this is what would happen. Through the Transition Integrity Project and bread crumbs left throughout the campaign, we knew it would come to this. For weeks I’ve been saying I hope Trump’s performance is strong enough and his coattails long enough to preclude the Democrats and The Davos Crowd from trying to pull off the theft of the election. That they would see the magnitude of the problem in front of them and be stopped short by little things like math. And then realize that even if they did try and cheat it would be so transparent that nothing good for them would be gained by it. But they didn’t listen. Trump almost pulled it off. His numbers across the board were excellent, stunning even given everything that’s happened. He may yet pull this out and I support any and all efforts to do so, but it is looking quite grim today. The potential is there for the Republicans to pick up as many as twelve seats in the House while holding the Senate if not picking up a seat, depending on how the courts rule on the already well-documented fraud. Coattails that long are prima facia evidence that what’s happening with the presidential election is fraud. I won’t go into the list of red flags here, others have done a far better job (and are, frankly, more entertaining), but they are big enough and red enough to get even the laziest, porn-besotted bull in the world angry. And that’s what should be scaring the crap out of everyone on ‘the Left’ today. Because as we heard yesterday, with coattails that long and the amount of obscene behavior on display, the remaining members of the Democratic caucus in the House are scared… and not just for their political lives. If we run this race again we will get fucking torn apart again in 2022, Spanberger says — Erica Werner (@ericawerner) November 5, 2020 Speaker Nancy Pelosi was in damage-control mode, saying “but we held the House” — which they were supposed to expand their majority in — and are “on track to win the presidency,” which no one will take even remotely seriously. I’ve had visions of seeing Pelosi dragged out of the Capitol by her expensive dyed hair choking on her dentures while being arraigned for sedition, but her getting beaten with the ‘awesome power of the Speaker’s gavel’ and lynched by her own caucus for incompetence will be even more delicious. At around 2am Tuesday evening I realized that they were actually going to do this and I texted a friend the next morning. His response?… The legal case is being built now to go to the State Legislatures, who are the ones who actually decide whose electors go to the Electoral College, and invalidate the votes in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin and Michigan, at a minimum. Article II, Section 1, Clause 2: each state shall appoint electors “in such Manner as the Legislature Thereof May Direct.” LEGISLATURE, not governor, AG, or SecState. Will GOP state legislatures of PA WI MI do their duty? If you live in those states, demand they act! PA & WI pic.twitter.com/vG4wEcKabF — Jim Jatras (@JimJatras) November 6, 2020 Getting those Republican-controlled legislatures to throw out the suggested results of a tainted election is exactly why the Electoral College exists. It is the last defense against mob rule and the corrupting nature of politics. The commies in the DNC and The Davos Crowd don’t like to hear that and frankly don’t care but that is the reality of it. That’s Trump’s path to the presidency at this point, because the votes will be tallied to ensure that he not only loses but lose by a large enough ‘electoral vote’ majority to nullify any rulings by the Supreme Court. Pelosi is prepared to invoke the 20th Amendment if there is no resolution on Inauguration day, January 20th through an act of Congress. This is why many House seats have not been called even though they are over. She made her choice. So did the all the people currently engaged in this theft. Now the nature of the State is clear for a majority of people to see.
https://tomluongo.me/2020/11/06/market-friday-civil-war-trump-fraud/
bochen787 on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 12:52 pm
CHINA
The Board on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 12:59 pm
Quit fanning the flames of civil war Davy.
FamousDrScanlon on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 1:06 pm
Clog can you update the board every time Trump & Giuliani fart or burp?
Wouldn’t want to miss any of these super duper important updates. What they ate for lunch is essential too, so don’t forget.
“should have” “should have” “should have”
“should have” “should have” “should have”
“should have” “should have” “should have”
“should have” “should have” “should have”
“should have” “should have” “should have”
“should have” “should have” “should have”
“should have” “should have” “should have”
The root of all your pain, disappointment, envy & hate-rage.
There’s your trouble!
https://youtu.be/q0j1LyPa4wY
Abraham van Helsing on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 1:11 pm
“Clog can you update the board every time Trump & Giuliani fart or burp?“
I’m getting on your nerves, right?
zero juan on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 1:12 pm
What a fucked up individual JuanP is
FamousDrScanlon said Clog can you update the board every time Trump &am…
The Board said Quit fanning the flames of civil war Davy.
FamousDrScanlon said The future of you & yours, your nation, civili…
bochen787 said CHINA
FamousDrScanlon said Market Friday: Civil War It is Then It is one thin…
Abraham van Helsing on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 1:20 pm
“Joe Biden is taking charge of a broken country“
https://theweek.com/articles/947911/joe-biden-taking-charge-broken-country
Provided he IS taking charge.
FamousDrScanlon on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 3:25 pm
My dad’s better than your dad, so there.
My stupid link is better than your stupid link, so there.
Rupert Murdoch-owned US outlets turn on Trump, urging him to act with ‘grace’
Fox News, Wall Street Journal and New York Post all show stark change of tone as their former champion faces ‘presidential endgame’
“Multiple Rupert Murdoch-owned conservative media outlets in the United States have shifted their messaging in a seeming effort to warn readers and viewers that Donald Trump may well have lost the presidential election.
The new messaging appears to be closely coordinated, and it includes an appeal to Trump to preserve his “legacy” by showing grace in defeat. The message is being carried on Fox News and in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post – all outlets avidly consumed by Trump himself, especially Fox.
Donald Trump’s malignant spell could soon be broken
Jonathan Freedland
Jonathan Freedland
Read more
One Fox News host, Laura Ingraham, an intimate of the president ever since she spoke at the 2016 Republican national convention, made an astounding statement that seemed directed at Trump personally, advising him to accept defeat “if and when that does happen” with “grace and composure” and appealing to his sense of his own legacy.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/nov/07/rupert-murdoch-owned-us-outlets-turn-on-trump-urging-him-to-concede-with-grace
Ya conseveratards take your loss with maturity, dignity & grace. You know – like the libtards did after the wicked witch of the North lost to Trumpy in 2016.
I can’t wait for the bakers dozen of team-right conspiracies they’ll conjure up.
Biden derangement syndrome has already started.
PUTIN DUN IT! BIDEN MAN BAD!
Abraham van Helsing on Sat, 7th Nov 2020 3:31 pm
Not everything went to plan:
“Joe Scarborough calls the election result an ‘absolute repudiation of the Democratic party as a brand’ and says Biden’s win will be a ‘one-off’“
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8924197/Morning-Joe-calls-election-absolute-repudiation-Democrats.html